dreamingofreality - T Foss and T Schmidt wiki

9. What makes The Great Gatsby a classic novel? Why has it maintained its place in American literature?

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The Great Gatsby is an American classic because Gatsby portrays the perfect image of a self made man. He rises from having nothing to having extreme financial success; this is part of the American dream. It is a classic also because of the author F. Scott Fitzgerald who displays the setting of New York in the twenties very well. The Great Gatsby has maintained its place in American literature due to its portrayal of a man who follows his dreams in order to achieve what we wants, therefore displaying the idea of the American dream.

5. What part of his past is Gatsby trying to recapture? Is he successful? Is there a person, feeling, or event in your past that you'd want to revisit?

Gatsby has a mysterious past throughout the book. As you read it becomes apparent that his main goal ever since he left to fight in the Army was to make Daisy his wife. When he comes back from war he is devastated when he learns that Daisy married Tom Buchanan. Gatsby then finds a home in West Egg, New York that is across the lake from the Buchanan’s house. Being the rich man he is Gatsby threw a massive party almost every weekend in the hope that Daisy would see it and want to come. Eventually this plan worked when Nick, a friend of Daisy’s, came to one of Gatsby’s parties. Gatsby then asked Nick to invite both him and Daisy over for tea. This event allows Gatsby and Daisy to start to rekindle their relationship which causes problems between Gatsby and Tom later down the road.
If I could recapture something from my past it would probably be winning the seventh grade Super Bowl. It was a team full of all my friends and we went undefeated that year. Although football is still very fun, that year surrounded by my teammates was one of the most fun seasons I experienced.
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This YouTube video is Accidentally in Love by Counting Crows. It is a more modern depection of Daisy and Gatsby. Gatsby feels that he shares the mutual feelings of love with Daisy and couldn't be happier like the guy in the video. The girl in the video on the other hand is annoyed with the man and eventually ends up leaving him. This is almost like Diasy in that you never get the sense as a reader that she is not fully in love with Gatsby and doesn't really want the life he wants with her.

1. What is the American Dream? How does Gatsby represent this dream? Does
the novel praise or condemn Gatsby's dream? Has the American dream changed
since Gatsby's time?

The American Dream is to make a name for yourself by doing what you makes you happy. This also includes being very wealthy and successful. Gatsby did this this all during the course of the book. He started as lower to middle class guy and went to war to defend his country and was honored for doing so in the process. He came back to find Daisy, his love, married to another man. Gatsby never gave up and became very well known and rich. This eventually allowed him to reach his ultimate goal of winning back Daisy in a sense. Although a self-made man like Gatsby is respeted in society, the novel seems to condem it. In the end, Gatsby, who is a seemingly honorable and trustworthy man is shot and killed due to his love for Daisy and the jealousy of her husband Tom. The American Dream in society today has only increased since the time of Gatsby. The goal now is to be more successful, richer and better well known than ever before on a world-wide scale such as a man like Bill Gates.

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